Development Of New Bridge Restrainer Using Laminated Fiber Reinforced Rubber

This paper presents an experimental approach for the development of new bridge restrainer system using laminated fiber reinforced rubber (LFRR). After Kobe earthquake on January 1995, the design concept for the bridge restrainer has been revised so that the bridge should install the shock absorber which may be prevented from falling down due to earthquake shock. However, the shock absorbing system for the bridge restrainer has been required to satisfy the two performance requirements of high energy absorption and reduction of impact load. To this end, the laminated fiber reinforced rubber was developed to apply to the new bridge restrainer system as a shock absorber. In this study, the three kinds of tests of static compression, rapid speed loading and weight dropping impact for the LFRR specimen were first performed in order to investigate the efficiency of LFRR as a shock absorber. Then, the rubber-rolled pin was also developed as a new bridge restrainer system from the viewpoints of impact load reduction and high energy absorption.